The hearing to get U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval for the sale of Eastman Kodak Co.’s digital imaging patents now is slated for Aug. 30—though no winning bidder has been announced.

The hearing had been expected to take place Monday at 2:30 p.m. but has been adjourned to Aug. 30, court documents state. The auction began Aug. 8.

Kodak is continuing discussions with potential buyers. The company had been expected to announce the winning bidder or bidders last Monday. But late that afternoon Kodak said it was extending the timeline in light of continuing discussions with bidders.

Last Thursday, the company said it was continuing to talk with potential buyers of its digital imaging patents, but no deal had been struck. Kodak added then it might keep all or parts of the portfolio.

The sale of the 1,100 patents, projected to fetch at least $2 billion in the auction, has been viewed as critical to Kodak’s emergence from bankruptcy.

Kodak began the effort to sell its digital patents last year in hope of finding a buyer in 2011.

The digital capture portfolio includes more than 700 patents covering aspects of image capture, processing and transmission technologies related to the design and operation of digital cameras and multifunction devices, including camera-enabled smartphones and tablets, Kodak said.

The Kodak imaging systems and services, or KISS, portfolio includes more than 400 patents that cover technologies including image analysis, manipulation and tagging, and network-based services, including image storage, access and fulfillment, the company said.
(c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.